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Old 01-25-2019, 07:48 AM   #421
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That just ain't right either!! Mine is a 14 row bus and it's only 33,500. More than I'll ever need but now I'm feeling a little inadequate. Thx Chris.

maybe it was bought heavy because of the chair lift? not sure.. it does drive like a heavy bus.. even my Superior is lighter-GVWR. and its an 11 window low height conventional.



EC - what color you going to paint the FS?

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Old 01-25-2019, 07:49 AM   #422
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Spent two hours on decal and adhesive removal yesterday. Got lucky and the reflective tape came off mostly in one piece.
What the hell is he doing with that 2x4?!!? ***Reads the note above*** Oh, that makes a little more sense.
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Old 01-25-2019, 07:52 AM   #423
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maybe it was bought heavy because of the chair lift? not sure.. it does drive like a heavy bus.. even my Superior is lighter-GVWR. and its an 11 window low height conventional.
That would bump the curb weight a 1,000 maybe 1,500 lbs. Doubt it would change the GVWR tho.



What's a "normal" shorty? At double the number of fat kids, you'd think there would be more than a 6k GVWR delta. Tho 6k is only 30 pax even at 200lbs each so... :shrug:
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Old 01-25-2019, 07:58 AM   #424
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most shorties seem to be in that 20k range.. although my red one is definitely light duty at 17,500.

im not sure how they classified busses... or how they come about in applying for their classifications..



esp considering carpenter wasnt known for making the strongest busses in the world.. I should go get it weighed to see what its curb weight is
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Old 01-25-2019, 07:59 AM   #425
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Someone ain't measuring something right. Probably me but what the hell? I've got the same tires and before the raise, the top of the beacon was about 10' even. And that's with the beacon being 4 or 5 inches itself. 74" ceiling. These buses must be all over the damn place.
They must be.
This the tallest stock school bus I've seen, though. Its tall enough I'm wondering if I should avoid adding anything up top that would reduce clearance.
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Old 01-25-2019, 08:14 AM   #426
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maybe it was bought heavy because of the chair lift? not sure.. it does drive like a heavy bus.. even my Superior is lighter-GVWR. and its an 11 window low height conventional.



EC - what color you going to paint the FS?
Green and white! and MAYBE some orange.





The current plan is to keep it simle. Green on the bottom and white from the bottom of the windows on up.


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Old 01-25-2019, 08:31 AM   #427
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They must be.
This the tallest stock school bus I've seen, though. Its tall enough I'm wondering if I should avoid adding anything up top that would reduce clearance.
From about here northward, I'd say leave it be. FL doesn't have a lot of short bridges tho.
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Old 01-25-2019, 08:35 AM   #428
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I already scrape a few low branches in places I've driven it.
Comcast hangs their cables so low here, too. I've got a buddy whose cable coax I can reach up and touch without even stretching. Obviously I'm gonna have to be careful but I want to keep the height down if possible.
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:24 AM   #429
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low bramches are the worst up here in ohio.. if I travel more main roads in towns where the semi's go then branches arent an issue.. but surely in neighborhoods they are.. my DEV bus had a lot of scratches from branches on its roof.. consequently there was surface rust to deal with..



Bob is right about low bridges north of him.. my trips to NYC and north and into upstate NY are a pain for low bridges.. most are 10'5 or qq' but ive also seen some 9 footers in some of the smaller towns.. get into new england it gets worse.. the interstates and larger state highways are mostly OK since they are trucker routes they seem to be mainly 13'6 or taller..

-Christopher
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:26 AM   #430
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lovde the green and white theme... it looks good on a bus, esp if you tint the windows..



several local schools have sports busses that color scheme and works great
-Christopher
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:32 AM   #431
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I already scrape a few low branches in places I've driven it.
Comcast hangs their cables so low here, too. I've got a buddy whose cable coax I can reach up and touch without even stretching. Obviously I'm gonna have to be careful but I want to keep the height down if possible.
It's Comcasat, give them something to do!!
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:36 AM   #432
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Bob is right about low bridges north of him.. my trips to NYC and north and into upstate NY are a pain for low bridges.. most are 10'5 or qq' but ive also seen some 9 footers in some of the smaller towns.. get into new england it gets worse.. the interstates and larger state highways are mostly OK since they are trucker routes they seem to be mainly 13'6 or taller..

-Christopher
PA for all the space they have (largest state east of the Miss R) is probably the worst. Middle of nowhere, cows as far as you can see. One lane bridge over the river. Weight limit 5 tons. The next stupid little town (town being generous) has a railroad underpass that measures 9 feet in the center. Also single lane.
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:38 AM   #433
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lovde the green and white theme... it looks good on a bus, esp if you tint the windows..

-Christopher
Get some green tint for the windows even!!
Unrelated side note; apparently the transition lenses for your face come in a green tint. I stuck with my normal gray.
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Old 01-25-2019, 10:15 AM   #434
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lovde the green and white theme... it looks good on a bus, esp if you tint the windows..



several local schools have sports busses that color scheme and works great
-Christopher
It came with tinted windows!

We're going to put a bunk bed in the rear to maximize space, and so the rear two windows will be deleted on each side. Since the bus is small we're still considering deleting all the school bus sliders and going with RV stuff. We'd only need 5 or 6.
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Old 01-25-2019, 10:17 AM   #435
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It's Comcasat, give them something to do!!
A big utility truck from the county ripped down our Comcast line. They re-installed it a bit higher but its still not very high up.
If I hit any I prob won't even stop.
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Old 01-26-2019, 05:08 AM   #436
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This damage is from a tree branch, before the bus was mine.


Its worse than the pic looks.
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Old 01-26-2019, 08:08 AM   #437
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I've been wondering about the gear ratio in the back of my head since I got this bus.
It does interstate speeds at or below 2000 rpm. Going by online gear/speed calculators I can't get near these numbers if plugging in the 4.10 rear axle ratio. I do get them when I plug in 3.54.
Could this bus have been regeared after destroying a transmission trying to keep up with traffic on the outskirts of Atlanta? It may have.
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Old 01-26-2019, 08:58 AM   #438
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"It does interstate speeds at or below 2000 rpm"


Sounds pretty sweet to me! Have you run the numbers on a gear calculator? Work backwards from speed and RPM and it should yield the gearing. The one below is great for playing with all the numbers (the one at the bottom of the page).


Engine RPM Calculator
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Old 01-26-2019, 10:17 AM   #439
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You know the at545 transmission high gear is 1.0, you can determine the tire circumference, the able rate should be easy to get from those.
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Old 01-26-2019, 11:06 AM   #440
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"It does interstate speeds at or below 2000 rpm"


Sounds pretty sweet to me! Have you run the numbers on a gear calculator? Work backwards from speed and RPM and it should yield the gearing. The one below is great for playing with all the numbers (the one at the bottom of the page).


Engine RPM Calculator
Quote:
Originally Posted by brokedown View Post
You know the at545 transmission high gear is 1.0, you can determine the tire circumference, the able rate should be easy to get from those.
I used Spicer's calculator to arrive at my bus having a 3.54 swap. It came with a 4.11 but there's no way the numbers work with that ratio.
I know the 545 has a 1:1 fourth and no od.

This pic is from the long ride home. 10R tires.


The math doesn't work for a 4.10 rear. Low 3's- it works.
The speedometer is accurate as verified by gps and the truck following with Shaun.
The bus will go 80 I'm pretty sure.
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